Virat Kohli walked back to the pavilion without scoring a single run in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2026 clash against the Mumbai Indians in Raipur on Sunday, May 10. The dismissal came on the very first ball he faced, making it a golden duck, and his second successive duck in the tournament. Despite the personal failure, RCB pulled off a dramatic two-wicket win off the last ball of the match.
The night was supposed to be a milestone occasion for Kohli. He was playing his 278th Indian Premier League match, equalling the number of appearances made by Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. Instead, the evening turned into one he would want to forget quickly.
How Kohli Got Out: The Deepak Chahar Dismissal
Kohli fell while attempting to drive Deepak Chahar towards long-off but instead offered a catch at mid-off to Raj Bawa. It was not a delivery that demanded a big shot. Deepak Chahar bowled a full, wide outswinger, and Kohli attempted to drive it over mid-off. However, he failed to generate the required power, with the bat face closing early and the ball coming off the inside half, resulting in a simple catch at a comfortable height for Bawa.
It was the kind of dismissal that happens when a batter goes hard at a ball outside off stump without quite getting to the pitch of it. For a batter of Kohli’s experience, it was an unusually loose shot, particularly while chasing a modest target of 167.
Back-to-Back Ducks: A Rare Low for Kohli
This was not a one-off. This marked Kohli’s second consecutive duck, having been dismissed for a two-ball duck against Lucknow Super Giants, where pacer Prince Yadav bowled him. Two successive ducks are not something that happens often to Kohli in the IPL.
The May 10 dismissal against MI marked Kohli’s 12th duck in IPL history and his second zero since April 23, 2023, when he fell first ball against Rajasthan Royals to Trent Boult.
Before these back-to-back ducks in the 2026 season, Kohli’s previous golden duck in an IPL run chase came way back in 2017 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, during the infamous match where RCB were bundled out for just 49 runs at Eden Gardens. That is how rare this kind of form dip is for him.
The last instance of Kohli registering back-to-back ducks in the IPL came in 2022, against LSG on April 19 and Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 23.
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RCB Still Win, Kohli’s Season Remains Solid Overall
The individual failure did not cost RCB the match. Krunal Pandya was the top performer as he slammed 73 off 46 deliveries. Needing 2 runs off 1 ball, Rasikh Salam Dar played the ball towards the bowler Raj Angad Bawa, who accidentally deflected it towards long-on, and the batters were able to complete the all-important runs. The Mumbai Indians were knocked out of playoff contention with the defeat.
Zooming out, Kohli’s overall IPL 2026 campaign has been far from a disaster. He has already amassed 379 runs in 10 matches and is on course for another 600-plus run season, having crossed that milestone in each of the last three editions.
Two ducks in a row make for an uncomfortable headline, but the broader numbers still tell the story of a batter in strong touch this season.
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